10 Fantastic Free Mp3 Albums To Download [sound Sunday]

The Orlando Philharmonic will announce today that it is buying the iconic Plaza Live Theatre on Bumby Avenue, where the orchestra will update the 1,000-seat music hall to accommodate chamber music concerts while also keeping a schedule of rock, jazz, comedy and contemporary music shows.

Google Maps is an essential tool for anyone planning a day trip or holiday, providing a clear yet detailed overview of locations and how to reach them. More than that it provides a simple way for all of us to find our literal place in the world, though it cannot help with the more figurative notion of belonging. Google Maps was already amazing, and then a few years after its launch Google Street View was added to the mix. At which point the opportunity to take a virtual trip around real towns and cities revealed itself. Google Street View coverage now includes more than 60 countries, with ground-level panoramic views (often containing strange sights) for huge swathes of those locales available to view online. However, Google Maps, and in particular Google Street View, isn’t only good for planning routes. There have been some fantastic Google Street View mashups created over the years, and there are also websites which use Google Street View to help you do some virtual globetrotting. And then there are games built on top of Google Maps and Google Street View, five of which are listed here for you to enjoy when you’re bored at work. Real World Racer Real World Racer is a simple Google street view game that offers exactly what the title implies it should. While most racing games rely on either completely imaginary routes or rough approximations of real-world locations, Real World Racer lets you race on real roads around the world. OK, so the visuals aren’t going to win any awards, and the controls are rather limited, but for those people who miss the days when top-down racers were as good as it got, Real World Racer should hit the (nostalgic) spot. You choose a route — either a pre-existing one from the eight on offer or one chosen by yourself by simply inputting a start and finish point — and then race your car against the computer-controlled opponents. The first to cross the finishing line wins, obviously, though you win nothing more than the satisfaction wrangled from besting poor AI. Street View Quiz Street View Quiz is another Google street view game whose title says it all. This is a website full of quiz questions based on Google Maps and Google Street View. Some of the questions make more sense than others, though they can all conceivably be solved by using nothing other than the image presented to you. Rather than answering any from the homepage you’re better served clicking on individual entries and tackling them one at a time. If you get stuck trying to use the image alone then a simple Google search should suffice in helping you to answer any question posed. GeoGuessr GeoGuessr presents you with an image from Google Street View and asks you to locate it on a map of the world. It sounds easy, but it’s actually maddenly difficult. Thankfully it’s also very entertaining and more addictive than it has any right to be. Each round consists of five destinations. At the end you’re presented with a chart showing how far out your guesses were each time, and the total score acquired. You can then start the process all over again to see if you can improve. It’s a lot harder than you may imagine to guess which country you’re in just from a single image. Road signs, the terrain, and the weather can all give clues, but you’ll be amazed how far away some of your guesses will be. Or perhaps I’m just geographically dumb. Pursued Pursued is very similar to GeoGuessr, with the same basic principles applying. However, rather than dropping you somewhere completely at random and asking you to vaguely point to it on a map, Pursued features pre-approved levels and asks you to name the city or landmark you’re seeing. This is also more of a complete game, with a plot of sorts — you have been abducted and need to tell your friend where to find you — and level packs, achievements etc. Which all helps add to the intrigue and innate playability of Pursued. The whole thing comes across as very professional, with the only annoying aspect being the need to jump through social networking hoops in order to play more levels. Still, there are user-submitted levels aplenty for those who aren’t willing to participate. Streetview Zombie Apocalypse Streetview Zombie Apocalypse is a clever little Google street view game that works despite its obvious flaws. Especially as the street cred of zombies has never been so clear thanks to The Walking Dead and other zombie-focused fayre. The premise is simple… you choose a location where you want to get dropped, and as soon as you pitch up in said location the undead hordes start to chase you in order to eat your brains. Which would be a whole lot scarier if the zombies in question weren’t tiny little sprites you could flick away with one finger. The aim of Streetview Zombie Apocalypse is to stay alive for as long as possible. To do so you need to run from your starting point, avoiding the undead as you go. Choose your location with care, as some will lead you to a premature death thanks to featuring a rat run of narrow alleyways and dead-ends. Conclusions These games are not only entertaining they’re also educational, revealing parts of the world perhaps previously unknown to you. Google Maps is a powerful tool in this regard, in the same way Wikipedia is a powerful tool for learning about new people or uncovering previously unsolved mysteries that can actually be easily explained. What do you think of the Google Street View games on this list? Do you have a favorite? Perhaps you know of another game which utilizes Google Maps; if so, we’d love you to share it with us in the comments section below along with your thoughts on the subject at hand. All comments are read, and most are afforded a reply. The post Gaming Google Maps With Street View Games appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Relief efforts get under way 1,200 miles from site of disaster Working to the pulsing beat of dance music, dozens of volunteers filled thousands of small plastic bags with lentils, rice and dehydrated vegetables at the Feeding Children Everywhere warehouse in Longwood Tuesday night.

Remember Google’s Photovine? No? Well, that’s OK. You’re not expected to remember every single one of Google’s whims, especially not those that lived for less than a year. To refresh your memories, Photovine was a photo-sharing app that launched following Google’s acquisition of a company called Slide, and revolved around photo vines, which are not unlike tags on Instagram or Flickr. Google’s Photovine died over a year ago, but it seems the brand is not dead. A new iPhone app called Photovine has recently emerged, and while this one doesn’t really have anything to do with Google’s old vines or Twitter’s new Vine, it brings an innovative way to view your Instagram and Facebook photos which involves music, slideshows, and an unusual interface. Curious? Keep reading for a full hands-on with Photovine. Photovine Unchained Photos have been around forever, but the Instagram era brought them to the front and center of our online and social lives. Accordingly, many of today’s apps strip social networks of their “boring” text, and bring us what we really want to see: photos. Twizgrid, a visual Twitter browser I adore, is a great example, and if you haven’t tried it out yet, I highly recommend it. Photovine, unfortunately, can access only your Facebook and Instagram photos, but it nonetheless offers a pretty unique viewing experience. Photovine revolves around a photo wheel, where you can choose which photos you wish to view. Your options are your Instagram photos, your friends’ Instagram photos, your Facebook photos (photos you’re tagged in), your friends Facebook photos, popular photos, and all your photos, which is these four options combined. The photos of your choosing are presented in a dynamic collage, which you can animate and move around by shaking your device. You can also view your photos individually, by tapping on the photos and sliding left and right. An icon on the top shows you which network the photo comes from. You can like and comment on photos from the app, and share them via Facebook, Twitter, email, or text message. Up until now, Photovine is a pretty standard photo app, but this is where the fun begins. Above your main photo collage, you’ll find several additional buttons. The “play” icon activates slideshow mode, letting you set your preferred transition time, choose which music to play (if at all), and decide whether you’d like a photo-only slideshow, or one with titles and timestamps. Slideshow mode is not the only way to combine music with your photos. The next button lets you enable background music for the app, and if you prefer to play different music for this occasion, that’s possible too. The right-most button is the refresh button, to refresh your feed — an action that can also be done by pulling the photo-collage down. Taking, Editing & Posting Photos Photovine is not only a browser, it’s also a great way to edit and upload photos to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, as well as share them with your phone’s contacts. To add a photo, tap the camera button at the bottom. You can take a photo with your phone’s camera or use an existing photo from your library. Photovine comes with a built-in photo editor powered by Aviary, which includes some automatic enhancements, 11 filters and effects, orientation and cropping options, and even a drawing tool. Once your photo is done, give it a title and choose where you want to upload it to. For some reason, both Twitter and Contacts options have LinkedIn’s logo next to them, but don’t mind that. Bottom Line To me, Photovine is a strange bird. On one hand, it brings together an innovative photo browser and a photo editor/uploader, and combines them under a pretty unique interface. On the other hand, this interface, while being interesting and easy to use, is not half as nice to look at as I would have expected from such an app. To be blunt, it’s a bit on the ugly side, and reminds me of Android apps from two years ago. That being said, Photovine is a fun way to discover and browse your photos and photo streams, and combined with the music and slideshow options, can make a great screensaver for your phone while its idle; one you can always glance it, and see something interesting. It’s ability to take, edit, and upload photos to all three major social networks can be a huge timesaver, and Aviary’s filters and tools could help you stand out from the regular Instagram stock. Download: Photovine on the App Store (Free) If you don’t own an iOS device there are plenty of other great ways to view your Facebook, Instagram and Flickr photos under one roof and on the Web. Did you get a chance to try Photovine? Do you have a similar app you like better Let us know in the comments. The post Photovine: A Unique Photo Browser, Editor & Slideshow Viewer For Instagram & Facebook [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I'm graduating from college in a few weeks, and I've already been offered a very good job, at least as far as pay is concerned. But a former employee of this company told me I'd be pressured into doing things that aren't honest or ethical. How can I know what to do? -- S.D.